Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Hamjambo. I welcome you all to this 25th ordinary session of the East African Community Heads of State Summit. Let me begin by thanking you for entrusting me with the privilege of presiding over the affairs of our beloved community and serving as your chairperson since 30th November, 2024. I am grateful to your excellencies for the diligent and gracious support extended to me during my tenure.
When I assumed this role, I committed to prioritize key deliverables to drive our integration agenda. These include enhancing peace, security, stability, and economic development in the region; increasing intra-EAC trade and investment; strengthening private sector engagement and the involvement of MSMEs in driving economic transformation; and accelerating the inclusion and the conclusion of the East African Community European Union Economic Partnership Agreement. Additionally, I committed to address non-tariff barriers to trade by enhancing infrastructure connectivity and regulatory harmonization, and progressing our shared aspiration for a political federation.
I am delighted to report that we have made significant progress on these key areas, and as a result, our community is marching forward towards an even more integrated and prosperous future. Our commitment to enhance peace, stability, and economic development in the region — the community partnered with other stakeholders to address some of the peace and security challenges affecting our region, especially in the Eastern DRC.
You may recall that under the East Africa-led Nairobi process on the restoration of peace and security in Eastern DRC, we agreed to adopt a coordinated approach and merge the Luanda and EAC-led Nairobi processes. Subsequently, President Mnangagwa, the then chairperson of the Southern Africa Development Community, and I engaged several times on this matter. And I wish to confirm that the African process towards restoring peace and security in Eastern DRC is now fully under the leadership of the African Union.
A panel of African facilitators was appointed to support the peace process, and the AU appointed a mediator who presented a progress report on the peace process to the just concluded 39th session of the African Union General Assembly that took place in February this year.
On our commitment to increase intra-EAC trade and investment, I am pleased to report that trade among partner states has continued to register positive growth, with the value of trade within the region rising by nearly 22% — from US dollars 33 billion in 2024 to US dollars 40.3 billion in 2025.
By any stretch or measure, that is very commendable progress. Exports from the region grew significantly by 32% to 19.6 billion dollars, while imports rose more moderately by 13% to 20 billion dollars. This has significantly narrowed the region's trade deficit from US dollars 3.4 billion to US dollars 1 billion during the same period. In other words, we are exporting more than we are importing and we are making progress. I am looking forward in the coming days that in fact we will have a trade surplus with other markets.
A key highlight of our meeting today will be the launch of the East African Customs Bond under the single customs territory. The customs bond was rolled out by partner states in January 2025 after a successful pilot in the Republic of Uganda. This trade facilitation instrument will enhance customs security to ensure payment of duties and taxes if goods placed under customs control are not properly delivered or accounted for. The launch of this bond is therefore a key milestone in strengthening the implementation of the single customs territory and facilitating the movement of goods across our region.
The region also recognizes the central role of the private sector and small and medium enterprises as key drivers of economic transformation. In this connection, I wish to report that in November 2025, I presided over the opening ceremony of the 25th East African Community Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Trade Fair in Nairobi, which attracted over 2,000 participants from all partner states. The event showcased our diversity in creativity and innovation, while providing an opportunity for peer learning and job creation amongst our people.
Our engagement with the private sector also focused on our shared objective to promote a culture of quality production across all sectors of our economy, while enhancing the role of women in regional trade. In 2025, I awarded 14 firms from partner states dealing in agro-processing, logistical services, and steel products with the East African Regional Quality Award and recognized 16 EAC Women Champions in trade.
Your Excellencies, our region remains a key part of the global trading system, and accessing international markets is key to the economic transformation of our community. Our efforts to conclude the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union and other trade agreements are therefore essential to ensure fair access to markets for our products. Since our last meeting, the Secretariat of EAC conducted a study among partner states between July and October last year to facilitate an in-depth analysis of the implications of the economic partnership agreement with the European Union.
I am happy to report that one of the key recommendations from the study is that there is strong consensus among all partner states to complete the EAC-EU economic partnership agreement. The conclusion of this process will be a key milestone for export performance and supply capacity for our block.
Ladies and gentlemen, a key obstacle to trade in our region is the ever-evolving non-tariff barriers that continue to hinder effective trade between and among partner states. Eliminating NTBs, enhancing infrastructure connectivity, and regulatory harmonization remain a key priority among my stewardship of the community. I am therefore pleased to inform you that our concerted efforts to eliminate non-tariff barriers have yielded results, with the number of reported barriers declining by about 56% — from 61 NTBs in 2024 to 27 NTBs in 2025.
I am sure that my successor is going to drive this effort into the future to ensure that we eliminate roadblocks and barriers to trade between our partner states.
Further, it is encouraging to note that the community continues to harmonize regulatory frameworks to facilitate implementation of commitments under the customs union and the common market to support and enhance trade among partner states. As a result, partner states have developed procedures in sanitary and phytosanitary measures, compilation and dissemination of statistics, and common procedures for notification among partner states on national regulatory measures introduced by partner states. I am confident that once these procedures are adopted by the council, they will further facilitate the fulfillment of our commitments.
Significant implementation milestones have been achieved on key arteries, including the feasibility study for the Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Highway in Kenya, the Kampala-Jinja and Jinja-Malaba-Busia-Kisumu road corridors in Uganda, and the Morogoro-Chalinze section in Tanzania. A market sounding conference for the Jinja-Malaba-Busia-Kisumu section was held in November 2025.
The construction of the Mombasa-Tanga-Bagamoyo coastal road has progressed to 62% completion, with 460 km of the 720 km stretch already operational, opening new economic corridors and reducing transit time for cargo by 40%.
In a similar trajectory, the rail transportation sector has witnessed remarkable transformation. The Kenya-Uganda standard gauge railway agreement signed in March 2025 commits both nations to completing the Nairobi-Kampala link by 2028, cutting travel time from 14 hours to 4 hours and freight costs by 35%. In fact, on 20th this month, we will be launching the actual construction of the rail in Kisumu with President Museveni here.
The Tanzania SGR services, which started on 14th June 2024, move an average of 10,000 passengers a day from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma, while freight services from Pugu station to Ihumwa ICF started on 27th June last year. A great stride in our community.
On inland lake transportation, the Lake Victoria transport corridor has been revitalized through the commissioning of six locally constructed cargo vessels in the past three years with a combined capacity of 3,500 tons, increasing cargo movement across the lake to 890,000 tons annually.
Your Excellencies, on the services sector, regional tourism has experienced growth through our unified approach. The EAC participation in the Berlin International Tourism Bourse in March 2025 as a single destination showcased our collective tourism potential to 10,000 international exhibitors and 160,000 visitors.
In terms of people-to-people and intergovernmental cooperation, three partner states — Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania — successfully hosted the African Nations Championships, CHAN, registering very remarkable progress. I am confident that we have set the tone, and with the investments we are making in sporting infrastructure, we are moving beyond our traditional athletics to competitive and commercialized sports and sporting value chains that will create jobs for our people.
The EAC adopted the United Nations Global Digital Compact, which promotes an open, safe, and secure digital future for all of us. In July 2025, the EAC joined the Artificial Intelligence for Good Impact Initiative, which seeks to drive meaningful change using AI technologies and telecommunications, advance global AI capacity, and provide a platform to democratize AI education and foster global capacity building. These steps are building blocks for a trusted, interoperable, and inclusive digital economy that supports trade, financial integration, innovation, and service delivery across our borders.
Excellencies, looking ahead, there is need to explore new frontiers of cooperation that address the growing needs of our people. The community has the opportunity to leverage emerging technologies to drive economic transformation for our youthful population. A deliberate and strategic focus on development of integrated digital infrastructure, harmonization of ICT policies, and promotion of digital literacy across the region can leapfrog the development of our region by connecting business and governments while creating immense opportunities for our people.
Consolidating value addition in textiles also presents immediate opportunities. The EAC must harmonize textile standards, provide resources for ginning and spinning factories, and jointly market EAC textiles to global buyers. The European, Asian, and African markets offer combined opportunities worth US $6.8 billion annually if we position ourselves strategically.
Ladies and gentlemen, the achievements we have recorded over the past year demonstrate that the EAC is capable of delivering transformative change when we work together with unity of purpose and clarity of vision. While we celebrate these achievements, we must acknowledge persistent challenges that require our collective resolve and action. Delayed and non-remittance of statutory contributions to the EAC budget continue to hamper our ability to implement development projects and fulfill our collective commitment. This challenge heavily undermines our financial sustainability, viability, and capability as a regional organization capable of delivering on our promises to our citizens.
50% by assessed contribution. That way, countries that have bigger economies and benefit more from the community will pay more, and those that have smaller economies and do not benefit as much will pay equitably. So, we have also taken the decision this morning that to alleviate the burden on countries that have arrears, we have agreed that the community will waive 50% of the arrears and the remaining 50% should be paid within two years.
We have also agreed on some consequential decisions on how to run the affairs of our community, because the statute that established the community was formatted when we had only three countries, and there was no need for a quorum. It is increasingly becoming difficult to get consensus of all countries now that we are eight and counting. We have therefore taken the decision that decisions of the community will be made by consensus or by 65% of members.
That will make our community much more effective and efficient. We have also taken the decision this morning that members of our East African Legislative Assembly representing different countries, who today spend almost 30% of the budget of EAC — from the next parliament after the new East African Legislative Assembly, the salaries of members of parliament will be paid by their respective parliaments. That will significantly reduce the burden on the East African Community so that we can spend more resources in making sure that we have an effective East African Community. Only allowances of members of parliament, therefore, will be paid by the EAC whenever they do their business, but salaries will be paid by their individual countries.
We have also taken the decision — because I said that we have taken some very consequential decisions today — that the five senior positions in the EAC: Secretary General, Speaker, President of the Court, and the two Deputy Secretary Generals — countries nominating individuals to these positions must have ratified the treaty, must have done all the requirements of the treaty.
So that we can look into the future and make sure that the political will to belong and to be part of this community is registered by all member states. And finally, we have also taken the decision that the salaries of our employees of the East African Community have not been reviewed, we are told, since 2006. And therefore we have taken the decision that there will be a review of salaries beginning January next year.
And we have given one assignment. The issues we have mentioned here are not subject to any other discussion by any other person. They are the decisions of the summit. There is a tendency for bureaucracy to go and massage some of the decisions we've made. And we have said the new formula for contribution should apply from July this year.
So we have given one assignment to our Council of Ministers. Now that the contribution structure has been made fairer and easier for countries to attain their obligations going into the future, we need to agree on those — partner states that are suggesting nominations for senior positions must be up-to-date with all their obligations for them to be able to make those suggestions.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have really enjoyed working with many actors, especially my colleagues, the heads of state, on these very serious matters. I have applied my mind to it. We have had consultations and discussions with my colleagues, and I want to thank them for their immense contribution and support.
As I hand over the chairmanship of the EAC Summit, I take this opportunity to register my sincere appreciation to all members of the summit of the EAC heads of state for the goodwill and cooperation extended to me and to the Republic of Kenya since 30th November 2024, when I assumed the position as chair of the EAC. I also wish to commend the Council of Ministers for their dedication and excellent work that they have done to further the integration of our region. I also express my appreciation to the staff of the community for the role they continue to play in steering the EAC to greater heights.
In particular, I congratulate the Secretary General, Veronica Nduva, for successfully steering and realigning the community over the 20 months that she has been in charge. In the same vein, I wish to congratulate the newly appointed Secretary General, who will be named shortly. As you take up the mantle, we are counting on you to build on the efforts of your predecessors and take the community to the next level.
Finally, I wish the incoming chair great success as they steer the community towards the realization of our common vision of a prosperous East African region. I thank you.
